I have strong recollections of my mother's garden. I remember in particular one bed that edged the driveway was planted every summer with a line of red salvia. (Maybe those horticultural horrors contributed to my decision to leave home.) So when I chanced upon this photograph, it brought back memories of the technicolor 1970's. Those ghastly salvia look like the flames of hell. But what would an Antarctic explorer, Washington lawyer, former debutante, and unidentified fellow traveler be doing in a sulfurous place like that? (Drinking bourbon and branch, I suspect.)
So imagine my surprise when I saw another photograph of the same flower bed taken earlier in the same year and from a different angle.
I don't remember any irises in that garden--but there they are--and blooming a cool, subdued shade of lilac. I do recall a dark red peony--and, there is it, too--but when I asked my mother many years later if I could have a division from that plant, she didn't remember it in her garden. Memories can create their own gardens, I guess.
2 comments:
What a nice surprise to see those irises. Did they comingle with the salvia?
And what a lovely coral-colored dress your mother (I think) is wearing and a wry smile as well!
That's my mother at far right. She did indeed love lipstick reds and corals--but favored navy blue even more. (The others, left to right, are the Washington lawyer, Antarctic explorer, and mystery guest.)
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